PakistanAP The assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto on Dec. 27, 2007, only 13 days after the lifting of the state of emergency imposed by Pres. Pervez Musharraf in early November, plunged Pakistan into its deepest domestic crisis since the 1971 civil war. Musharraf placed Pakistan on red alert and ordered all military, paramilitary, border constabulary, and police to quell the riots that paralyzed many sectors of society, notably railroads and air terminals. Bhutto’s death and its aftermath placed the national and provincial elections scheduled for Jan. 8, 2008, in question. She allegedly was shot leaving a rally in Rawalpindi. The shots were followed by a suicide bomber, who blew himself up near her vehicle, killing more than 20. Controversy raged around the specific cause of Bhutto’s death, but her tragic passing framed the events of 2007.

The November state of emergency established a form of martial law (it suspended the constitution but did not dissolve the legislature, which completed its term on November 15). It came as the Supreme Court was poised to rule on the legitimacy of the October 6 election that gave Musharraf another five-year term as the country’s president. With anti-Musharraf Supreme Court justices dismissed from office, the declaration set off a firestorm of anti-Musharraf criticism. Demonstrations led by Pakistani lawyers affected the major metropolitan venues, and the martial law authority arrested thousands.

Bhutto, who had returned from exile in mid-October, became a central political personality in the ongoing circumstances. After the declaration of the state of emergency, Bhutto insisted that Musharraf had to go, but he sustained the emergency, despite the country’s suspension from the Commonwealth of Nations and increasing international pressure, especially from the U.S.

On November 16 Musharraf swore in an interim caretaker government and named Mohammadmian Soomro prime minister. The new ministers pledged to continue the policies of the previous government, and Soomro declared that a continuity of policy was essential for the holding of free and transparent elections. Subsequently, Musharraf issued Constitution (Amendment) Order 2007 to provide “constitutional cover” for all actions taken during the period of emergency. A reconstituted Supreme Court dismissed all six legal challenges to Musharraf’s reelection. He was sworn in as president for another five-year term on November 29 after having retired from the army the previous day. Former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) director Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani was made the new chief of army staff.

On December 15 Musharraf lifted the state of emergency, but not before he had amended the constitution (through executive order) and thereby insulated himself against future legal challenges. This accomplished, Musharraf revoked the emergency’s Provisional Constitution Order (PCO) and reinstated the modified constitution. These events followed a year of mounting turmoil.

In January a spate of suicide bombings caused casualties in several areas of the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP). Mosques, hotels, and police constabularies were all targets of extremists. In February the female Punjabi minister for social welfare was assassinated by a self-declared “religious fanatic.” A suicide bomber took the lives of a judge and six lawyers in a Balochistan courtroom. In May the Global Peace Index listed Pakistan among the seven most dangerous countries in the world. Meanwhile, the war in Waziristan intensified, and in September and October hundreds were killed as helicopter gunships and heavy artillery were brought to bear on Taliban and tribal militants. Nevertheless, suicide bombers penetrated a high-security commando base, and a teenage suicide bomber detonated his device in a military staging area. Twenty-seven members of the defense services also died when multiple suicide bombers breached the high-security zone in Rawalpindi. In December Pakistan’s first reported woman suicide bomber blew herself up at a military checkpoint in Peshawar, while another suicide bomber detonated a device in a nearby mosque, killing more than 50. Earlier, in an audio recording, Osama bin Laden called rebellion against Musharraf an act of faith.

In March there was fierce fighting in South Waziristan between tribal Pashtuns and Uzbek militants. In April and again in November, scores died in Parachinar, North-West Frontier Province, when rival Sunni and Shiʿite communities clashed. A suicide bomber killed 32 people at a public meeting northeast of Peshawar. In May, 22 people were killed when another bomber attacked a crowded restaurant in the NWFP capital. In September and October militants took almost 300 soldiers prisoner in North Waziristan. Negotiations with tribal leaders in November led to the release of an estimated 200. In Swat state the military launched a campaign to capture or kill Maulana Fazlullah and suppress his Islamic state breakaway movement. This clash was traced to the November suicide attack on a bus transporting ISI employees in Islamabad that killed 18 intelligence operatives.

Musharraf contributed to his own weakness when in March he dismissed Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. The media’s handling of the firing also led to a government crackdown on the press, but efforts to silence government critics only intensified the confrontation. The New York City-based Committee to Protect Journalists cited Pakistan among the 10 worst countries for press freedom. Moreover, after months of street demonstrations, Chaudhry was reinstated. Musharraf accepted the court order, but his popularity waned, and opposition to his rule spread. Bolstering his support within the army, Musharraf promoted six officers to lieutenant general and made Lieut. Gen. Nadeem Taj director general of the ISI.

Although U.S. criticism of Musharraf increased throughout the year, it reached crescendo proportions after the November declaration of the “state of emergency.” Pakistan, however, had become the largest recipient of U.S. funds for the latter’s “war on terrorism,” a figure estimated at $9 billion–$11 billion since 2001. Symbolic of this assistance was the delivery in July of F-16 aircraft that the U.S. Congress had delayed for more than a decade.

In the spring public attention focused on the Lal Masjid mosque in Islamabad. Religious militants seized control and ordered students from nearby religious schools to attack public and commercial outlets.The government hesitated to respond, even after the kidnapping of policemen and the seizure of public property. In July, however, efforts to mediate a solution failed, and Musharraf ordered Special Forces to take control of the complex. More than 100 died in the assault. The action prompted numerous suicide bombings in different parts of the country.

In July Musharraf met secretly with Bhutto in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E., for “power-sharing” discussions, and in October she was granted amnesty and allowed to return to Pakistan. Her homecoming began tragically when her procession from the airport was bombed, killing at least 145 and wounding 450. In September former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was prevented from returning to Pakistan from exile in Saudi Arabia. In November, however, after Bhutto’s return and Musharraf’s hasty visit to Saudi Arabia, Sharif was allowed to reenter Pakistan.

Pakistan’s budget for 2007–08 was judged largely irrelevant for the country’s average citizen. A record trade deficit and double-digit food-price inflation compelled the government to levy special surcharges on most imports. Without massive investments in water, energy, and human resources, crop yields fell, while population growth continued its upward spiral. The UN 2007 Human Development index ranked Pakistan 136th in the world.

Floods caused by a huge cyclone and heavy summer rains inundated Sind and Balochistan. More than one million people were driven from their homes, and several hundred died. Survivors were threatened by cholera, diarrhea, skin allergies, and waterborne diseases. In December six cases of H5N1 bird flu were confirmed by the World Health Organization.

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